Learning Mentor Resources

Benchmark ​universe (K-5)

Benchmark universe (K-5 Reading)

The Dashboard is the first page you see after you sign in. From here the student can access:

1. Library Students can be their own librarian and find books by grade, unit, and language. They can create ​bookshelves of their favorite books. They can even leave reviews of the book. Students can read it, review ​it, and see book reviews by your classmates.
2. Reading Log The My Reading Log is all about the student's completed reading assignments. Students can ​use the My Reading Log page anytime you, a family member, or teacher want to know about your ​completed assignments. Students can also write book reviews, submit them to you for approval.
3. Assignments Students will see a list of assignments by status, assignment name, due date, and teacher. ​They will be able to see which and how many assignments are not started, in progress, or completed with a ​tally of the assignments.
4. Inbox Students can compose, send, reply, and get messages from you, their teacher, by using Messages.
5. Change Background, Profile Settings, Sign out Students can modify the look of their dashboard by ​changing their image and background.

student library

1. Page Icon & Name This will display a panel and navigate to Benchmark Universe tools. This shows the ​student where they are and what page they are working on.
2. Library Drop Down List This is where a student can sort through books by the drop down list, grade, unit, ​or other filters.
3. Search and Filter Students can search by book title or keyword. Students can also see the filters that have ​been applied as well as remove the filters to start over.
4. Category Headings The category headings allow resources to be grouped by category and total number of ​resources; for example whole and small group texts and resources.
5. Book Gear Icon The gear icon located on a book will allow the book to be opened, get more information ​about the book, add it to their bookshelf, or see reviews written by classmates.
6. Add New Bookshelves This button will allow the student to create a new bookshelf in their library. The ​bookshelf is a collection of books the student has curated.
7. Bookshelf Block The blocks under the bookshelf heading will show the student the number of books they ​have in the bookshelf and make changes to their bookshelf.

reading Log

1. Completed, In Progress and Started This will show the total number of books read (finished), in progress ​(finish it later), or started.
2. My reading log table Students can view and sort information by date, teacher, ebook title, completion ​status, or reviews. Students can use the arrows to sort by ascending or descending order.
   
3. eBook cover Students can click on the book over to open the eBook.
   
4. eBook title The eBook title can be used to view the history of the reading activity.
   
5. Read Your Review The Read Your Review link will allow the student to read the book review that they ​wrote for that title. This will not show if they have not written a review. Instead they will see write a review ​(see marker #6).
   
6. Write a review This link will allow the student to write a review and submit it to their teacher for approval. ​The review must be approved by the teacher before the student will see it on the My Reading Log page. ​You, as the teacher, will receive a message when a student has submitted a book review.
   
7. Print your reading log This will allow the student to print their reading log.
   

Classlink

ClassLink is a one-stop shop for students to safely access CMCSS apps and websites.

PLEASE NOTE THAT CLASSLINK WILL NEED TO BE ACCESSED IN A GOOGLE CHROME BROWSER.

ACCESSING THROUGH CMCSS.NET

1. Go to cmcss.net
2. Hover over the "Students and ​Parents" tab
3. Hover over "Students"
4. Select "Student Resources"
5. Click "Go". If prompted, enter ​your Username ​(first.last###@students.cmcss.n​et - these three numbers are the ​last three digits of the student ​number) and Password (FL#### ​- these four numbers are the last ​four digits of the student PIN).

ACCESSING THROUGH THE WEB

1. Navigate to ​launchpad.classlink.com/cmcsd
   
2. Click "Go". If prompted, enter ​your Username ​(first.last###@students.cmcss.n​et - these three numbers are the ​last three digits of the student ​number) and Password (FL#### ​- these four numbers are the last ​four digits of the student PIN).

Powerschool

PowerSchool is the official grade book and attendance tracker for CMCSS. ​While some of the digital learning platforms do have a grade book, please note ​that official grades will only be recorded in PowerSchool.

Parents should use their username ​and password for their Parent ​PowerSchool account. To create an ​account, sign in to the PowerSchool ​Student/Parent website and enter ​the student Access ID. If you do not ​know your Access ID, please contact ​your child’s school.

Before you sign in, you will need the ​CMCSS district code as shown ​below.

Math resources

Accessing Grades K-8 Parent Resources

using microsoft edge for website read aloud

Common Tech Issues with Fixes

Check if you are in sync…

Open Chrome Browser and click the three dots in the upper right-hand corner of the window.

Hover over your name and another window will open. If it does not say “Sync is ON” underneath ​your email address, you are not in sync. Click Sync Now and follow prompts to sync your account.

How many profiles are on your device?

You should only have one profile on your device; the official CMCSS profile. Click three dots in ​upper right-hand corner of the window. Hover over your name and another window will open. Go ​down to Manage Google Profiles. Remove any other profiles that are not the CMCSS profile by ​clicking the three dotes in the profile and click delete.

Have you cleared your browser cache?

Click the three dots in upper right-hand corner of the Google Chrome browser window. Scroll ​down to delete browsing data. Make sure the drop-down window is marked “ALL TIME” and click ​“Delete Data.”

Can’t connect to the internet?

At the bottom right of your computer is an arrow pointing up for hidden icons. Click on this to ​reveal the hidden icons. Look for an ORANGE Circle that does NOT have a letter in it. If the circle is ​ORANGE your firewall is up and running. If the circle is GRAY (with no letter in it) your firewall is ​down. If it flickers from orange to gray your firewall is unstable. When unstable or is down, SHUT ​DOWN your computer completely. NOT restart, SHUT DOWN. Let it rest for 30 seconds then boot it ​back up and check if the circle is orange or gray. It can take up to 3-4 times to do this shut-down ​procedure before the firewall becomes stable and the orange circle appears. If after 4 times it ​does not turn orange call Virtual Support.

Classlink will not load at start up?

Make sure you are using Google Chrome and are synced. Go to CMCSS.net. Hover over Parents & ​Students and click from the drop-down Classlink. Use your username and password to log into ​Classlink.

General tips to make your computer work more smoothly:

Sometimes your computer just needs a Shut down and Restart. We recommend you SHUT DOWN ​your computer each night before you go to bed. This allows your device to do a full reboot and ​install any scheduled updates when you turn it back on in the morning.

Keep tabs open to a minimum. When you are done with a tab close it. Your device will run more ​efficiently.

Do not use change backgrounds on Zoom, your computer, or download mouse pointers. These ​items take up CPU bandwidth needed to run Zoom and Google Chrome simultaneously for so long.